Easy Fruit Cobbler

Tis the season for excess fruit. Hooray I've been waiting for this season all year, lol. Currently I've got buckets of pears and apples to go through.

I found this by searching for "easy apple cobbler" and it's fabulous! Top it with some vanilla sauce and you've just gone to heaven. The kiddos love it too!

The first night I did what the recipe said and used apples, but last night I used pears and since I ran out of white sugar I used brown sugar. Sierra said it was even better than the apple one. So, I am thinking that it would work with whatever fruit I had on hand.

EASY APPLE COBBLER

Apple Mixture:
5 c. Apples, sliced

1/2 c. Sugar

2 tbs Flour

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 c Water

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tbs Butter, softened

Combine above ingredients; mix gently. Spoon into a lightly greased 9-inch square baking pan.

Batter:

1/2 c Flour

1/2 c Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp Salt

2 tbs Butter, softened

1 Egg

Combine batter ingredients; mix well. Spoon over apple mixture in 9 equal portions (batter will spread during baking). Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

Yield: 6 servings.

Here is the original recipe that I took this from.

Back To School Breakfast

My two oldest went back to school today so it was a big morning at our house.  One in 11th grade and another in 3rd. So I wanted to make something special. It needed to me yummy of course, but I also wanted it to have a little nutrition in it too so this is what I made.

It's a recipe for Blueberry-Swirl Coffee Cake but my kids like their food in muffin form better so I made it in muffin cups instead of a pan. I realize that it is a cake and therefore not terribly healthy, but at least I got a fruit in there, hehe.

Over the summer my now third grader was shopping with daddy and saw this magazine and insisted that they buy it for me because in her words, "mom always likes cooking healthy things" How cute is that? I love her!

Needles to say, I am glad they bought it because it's full of nice recipes and pretty pics.

This is where the recipe came from. I made this one other time and called it breakfast :) This summer while Rikard's family was staying with us I made it, and they all loved it too.

I didn't have lemon zest so I substituted almond extract and it was delish!

To make it into muffins instead of the cake I just layered it in the tins same as you would in the pan and sorta swirled it around with my finger. Worked fine.

 Maybe the best part about making this into muffins was that I had extra blueberries in the end. Of course I could not waste these sugared little beauties. They fit beautifully in a small baking pan and luckily I had a little batter left. Oh baby!

 I could eat the whole pan! Good thing it's small! It's almost like pie, maybe like a buckle? Whatever it is, it is definitely delicious! I may plan this little accident again by increasing the blueberries and decreasing the batter. It would be heaven with vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce over it. But then I couldn't call it breakfast.

Here's the recipe:

Blueberry-Swirl Coffee Cake

2 1/2 c fresh or frozen blueberries

1/3 c packed light brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c (1 stick) butter

1 c granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1 tbs grated lemon zest

2 1/2 c self-rising flour

1 1/4 c reduced fat milk

Preheat oven to to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 13x9 inch baking pan. Toss 2 cups blueberries with brown sugar and cinnamon until blueberries are covered.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add egg and egg white beat another 2 minutes. Add lemon zest. Reduce to low speed and add flour alternately with milk, one-third at a time. Scrape sides down and do not over mix.

Spread half the batter into pan and sprinkle with blueberries. Spoon remaining batter on the top and swirl with knife several times. Sprinkle remaining blueberries on the top .

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging, about 40-45 minutes. Cool pan on wire rack 15 mins before serving.

I baked the muffins for 15-20 minutes. They needed to be in muffin cups because the ones that were not fell apart when I was trying to remove them from the pan. They also didn't work well as mini muffins. Maybe they would have if I would have used mini muffin papers but I didn't have any so they came out in a heap. Still tasted good but looked like a disaster :)

Enjoy!



Mandy

Cakes & Cupcakes

For my birthday I got a Cricut Cake. Oooh the possibilities :) I love decorating cakes. Mostly I love icing, but for me that has translated into a love of using the icing to decorate cakes.

This cake I made for Mandaline's 16th Birthday. It was so fun to make.

We were unsure how many kids would come so I decided to make a batch of cupcakes to compliment the cake and this is the cuteness that insued!

 I could very nearly die of cuteness - if that were at all possible, haha!

These are my first expirement with my new toy. I made them for Dawnie's Bridal shower. Orriginally I wanted to have a simple D & R on the cupcakes, but there is quite a learning curve with the machine so this is what resulted. I think they are darling!

Dawnie had some cute little metal tags that made all the difference in the packaging. I made them as a favor, not as a dessert so they needed to be portable.

A few notes on using Cricut Cake:

-For the sugar sheets that you buy at the craft store it worked best to not cut all the way through the sheet but only score it with the machine. This did make it so you had to finish punching the shapes out with your hands or a small knife but the success rate was a lot higher than when I cut all the way through because it would crack and chip and I would throw out most of the cuts. So I had it on medium presure and low speed.

-Also with the sugar sheets I left them on their plastic sheet and just stuck the plastic to the cutting mat with a little butter. This kept them from becoming to soggy with butter and made it so I didn't have to work so fast before the sheets became too soft to move.

-On my second try I just rolled out fondant instead of sugar sheets. The fondant is so much easier! Besides being more pliable you can also reuse the extra or the mistakes by simply re rolling it out. So this was better for me because I wasted much less.

Due to this I think that next time I use the machine I'll only use the fondant. I can easily dye it to any color I need, and I know I'll waste less.

The icing I love the most is here: Favorite frosting

Vanilla Sauce

This one is for you Mandy... Its the closest thing to the boxed kind you can get here... I made it last night and Then put it over strawberries.  Dont judge... Rikard is out of town and I am lonely! (and bored!) I have to keep reminding myself I have to fit into a wedding dress in a few months. CRAP!


Ingredients (serves 4)

1 cup milk
1 cup thickened cream
1 vanilla bean (see note)
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/3 cup caster sugar

Directions:
1. Combine milk and cream in a small saucepan. Using a sharp knife, split vanilla bean in half lengthways and scrape out seeds. Add bean and seeds to milk mixture. Place over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat.


2. Whisk egg yolks, cornflour and sugar in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Remove vanilla beans from milk mixture. Pour hot milk mixture over egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.

3.Return mixture to saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 15 to 20 minutes or until custard thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon (do not allow custard to boil, as it might curdle).

4. Serve custard warm or cold over stewed fruit, pancakes or crumbles.


Notes:
You could use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla powder instead of the vanilla bean.

If cooling custard for later use, cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Here is another winner.... Rikard said it goes in the top 3 so that has to mean its pretty good!  I can never tell if the things I make really taste good, or I just think they do because I work so darn hard making them. So Rikard is my test dummy, I swear he would try poop if it looked good enough... Just saying!

The only thing I might change with this is I would rather a graham cracker crust, I am not a big fan of chocolate... Maybe due to the fact that the night before I made this I ate an entire pack of Oreos... YUCK! I have had my feel of chocolate cookies!!!

Ingredients


• 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs

• 3 tablespoons white sugar

• 1/4 cup butter, melted

• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries

• 2 tablespoons white sugar

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1/2 cup water

• 2 cups white chocolate chips

• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream

• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 3 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.

2. DOUBLE THIS PART ITS WORTH IT TRUST ME! SO GOOD! In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds. (I didn't strain mine...)

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth. (Honestly I just threw them in to the microwave... Worked just fine!)

4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.

5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

AND how can you resist fresh whipped cream with vanilla bean in it! Oh God the little fat kid inside of me is screaming to get out...

Yummy Brownies

Rikard and I had a sweet tooth the other night so I found this pretty yummy recipe for brownies... The honey makes the frosting to die for! I think I ate half of it before the brownies were even out of the oven.  I am sure you could do the brownies with spray butter os something healthier, but you know me I am all about the butter! Mmmm!


Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder



3 tablespoons butter, softened

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners' sugar









Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

4. To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey (I did 2 tablespoons and it made it even better) , 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Frozen Rasberry Cobbler (By Dawnie)

This was a huge hit a couple of weeks ago when we had a dinner party. Its so easy but Shhh dont tell. Let everyone think you are an amazing cook and worked all day to make this dessert! Its especially good with vanilla sauce all over the top.

The best part is I always use frozen berries... its so much cheaper!

Ingredients:

• 1 Stick butter
• 1 1/4 cups Sugar
• 1 cup Flour
• 1 teaspoon rising agent (Baking powder)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups rasberries or any berry (frozen or fresh)

Instructions:

• melt the butter in the microwave.
• In another bowl stir together 1 cup sugar, rising agent and the flour
• Slowly add milk to sugar and flour mixture
• finally adding the melted butter
• Now butter the baking dish and dont be stingy the butter is the best part!
• pour the batter in the dish
• sprinkle the berries over the top of the batter (I sometimes push the berries down into the batter a little so I can get as many as I can!)
• Sprinkle the remainding 1/4 cup sugar over the top
• bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour or until perfectly golden and bubbly
• I sprinkle a little more sugar ten minutes before its dont to make it a little crispy! YUM!

ENJOY!

Love,

Dawnie

Pumpkin Cookies

Halie's preschool teacher made these in class the other day and the kids adored them. In fact, she made them the year Sierra was in preschool too, and this was the first pumpkin thing Sierra ever ate, and she still loves them.

Adventure Preschool Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 c Butter
1 1/2 c Sugar
2 eggs
1 c Pumpkin Puree
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Soda
3 c Sifted Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 c Chocolate Chips
Mix wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. Combine and mix in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 15 mins.  Makes 3 dozen.
Halie's job this year was to do the butter :)